Taking Elon Musk-run Tesla head on, South Korea’s No 2 automaker Kia unveiled the EV6, its first all-electric model built on a dedicated platform that can travel over 500 kms on a single charge. The EV6 is priced at from over 45 million won to around 55 million won ($40,000 and $48,500) similar to Tesla’s entry-level all-electric sedans. In an online world premier event, South Korea’s No. 2 automaker showcased its crossover EV6 based on its parent Hyundai Motor Group’s electric global modular platform (E-GMP), which is the same platform used for the Hyundai Ioniq 5 unveiled last month.
The EV6 is the first of 11 fully electric vehicles (EV) Kia plans to roll out by 2026 as part of its EV drive. The automaker’s other EV models are the Niro and Soul, which are offered alongside gas and hybrid variants.
“The EV6 is the first model that comes after Kia declared its vision to transform itself from an automaker to an innovative mobility solution provider. The EV6 is a symbolic model developed under Kia’s mid- and long-term plan to increase the ratio of eco-friendly models to 40 percent of total sales by 2030,” Kia President Song Ho-sung said during an online press briefing.
The model will offer two choices of battery packs a standard 58-kilowatt-hour (kWh) battery pack and a long-range 77.4-kWh one. The long-range model with an 800-volt system can travel over 510 km on a single charge, which is further than the Ioniq 5’s 430-km driving range, and charge up to 80% of battery capacity in 18 minutes, the company said.
The EV6 offers a more spacious interior than other EVs that spawned from gasoline-powered models, and the sleek design embodies its shifting focus toward electrification, it said.
Its battery can be used as an energy storage system thanks to vehicle-to-load technology, which enables the electricity from the battery to be used by external devices. The crossover also comes with advanced safety features such as lane keeping assist, blind spot collision avoidance, safety exit assist and rear cross-traffic collision-avoidance assist systems. The company said it aims to sell 30,000 units globally this year and targets 1,00,000 units next year when a high-end trim is released.
